Homecoming Surprise
by OrtonsMistress
Summary: Set in 2004. Jenny never left Gibbs in Paris. They are married and raising Kelly and their 7 year old daughter Alexis together. What happens when Gibbs is stationed overseas when Kelly is set to graduate high school? Will he be able to make it home in time? *One-shot*


Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize I do not own. They are all owned by Donald Bellisario.

A/N: This is in no way tied to my Accidentally in Love story. I just happen to think that Jenny being part of Gibbs and Kelly's family is cute. This idea has been stuck in my head for awhile now. It is also slightly going AU.

****NCIS****

_June 2004_

Kelly Gibbs walked down the stairs, dressed in a royal blue graduation gown. "Jenny, how do I look?" She asked, fiddling with the tassel on her cap.

"You look great sweetie," she replied, going over and giving her step-daughter a hug. "You know if your father could be here, he would."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I know."

Jethro Gibbs had been recalled to active duty, sent overseas to Afghanistan. He had been stationed in Kabul for almost a year. Ten months, two weeks and six days, if you were to ask his wife and daughter. He had been in DC for the first day of Kelly's senior year, but had to ship out the next day. The adjustment for Jenny and Kelly was hard. They were both used to having him at home; Kelly hadn't had to worry about losing her father to a war since she had been a little girl. Even when he had gone to Kuwait in '91 she remembered then that there was a chance her daddy wasn't going to come home. After Shannon had died in the car accident, he had promised her that he wouldn't be going away and fighting in wars anymore.

When the dreadful phone call came in from his former Commanding Officer, recalling Gibbs to active duty, Kelly remembered the fight that she had gotten into with him. She couldn't understand why he had let himself get called back in. 'They shouldn't be allowed to do that,' she had cried. Of course she knew there wasn't anything he could do to get out of it. 'Once a Marine, always a Marine,' he'd told her. Taking a leave of absence from NCIS, it had left Jenny as the team's leader, until Gibbs returned later in the fall.

"The team is meeting you here, right?" She asked, going over to the mirror and putting her cap on, so Jenny could take pictures to send to Gibbs.

"Yes, they just had to wait for Abby to finish up some test for Agent Reyes team," Jenny replied, making sure the camera had the batteries charged and the memory card wasn't too full. "Was your sister just about ready?"

"Mmhmm," she replied, as she pulled on the cord for being one of the top twenty in her class. "At least it looked like it. I mean, she was dressed and had her shoes on."

Alexis Anne Gibbs is the spitting image of her mother. At seven years old, she had proven time and again that when she becomes a teenager, she would butt heads with her parents. She had the stubbornness of Jenny, and the steely glare of Gibbs.

"All right, let me go upstairs and make sure she's ready," she said, setting the camera down. "What time do you need to be there?"

"Maddie's picking me up in about fifteen minutes," she replied, hearing the team pull up in the driveway. "Go get Lexi and I'll let the team inside."

"Okay," she said, as she went upstairs while Kelly went to the door.

Opening the front door, Kelly was immediately engulfed in an Abby hug. "Can't breathe Abs," she said, as the scientist seemed to be cutting off her oxygen supply. "I would like to make it to my graduation."

"Sorry," she replied sheepishly. "I just can't believe you are actually graduating high school. It seems like it was just yesterday when I started at NCIS, and you were coming to the lab and asking for my help with your science projects."

"Yeah, I know," Kelly sighed, as she felt the tears welling up again at the thought of Gibbs missing her graduation. Blinking back the tears before the team could notice, she added. "Jenny and Lexi should be down in a few minutes. Then I have to go when Maddie gets here."

"Okay, sounds good," Tony said, as he and McGee went into the living room to sit and wait.

****NCIS****

Once Jenny had gotten back downstairs with Alexis in tow, she had taken a plethora of pictures, many of just Kelly by herself, and a lot with her and Lexi. When Maddie arrived, Jenny made sure to get a few pictures of her and Kelly, before the girls left to go to the auditorium for the ceremony. Making sure that she knew what side Kelly would be sitting on, they headed to the building and waited to be allowed inside.

****NCIS****

Kelly had been sitting in the audience listening somewhat bored, as the superintendent was talking about what all her graduating class had achieved and was announcing scholarship recipients. By the time he was done, she was pretty sure that most of her friends and classmates had fallen asleep. Chuckling lightly to herself, she could imagine Tony sitting with her family and him bugging McGee while the 'boring stuff was going on'. When the principal finally announced they would be handing out the diplomas, Kelly sat up a little straighter.

Walking up to the stairs when it was almost her turn, she looked out and could spot her step-mom, who had been more like a mother to her than her other step-mothers had and she had grown to love her dearly. Lexi was seated on Tony's lap so she could see no doubt. When she got up to the stage, the principal stopped talking and changed the ceremony up a little bit.

"I need to stop right here and say something," she had said, making Kelly look over at her a little strange. "I received a phone call just a little bit before the ceremony started tonight, from a Gunnery Sergeant stationed in Afghanistan," as she was saying all this, Kelly's tears were falling rapidly down her face. "He had asked me if there was any way to set up a satellite feed to see his daughter receive her diploma. Unfortunately we weren't able to get anything set up in enough time for that to happen, so then he asked if he could be the one to present her with the diploma."

"Oh my God," Kelly mumbled, as she saw Gibbs walking out from behind the curtain, as everyone in the auditorium started cheering and clapping. "Daddy!" She exclaimed, running over and jumping up into his arms as he hugged her tightly to him. "I didn't think you could make it home."

"That's what I wanted you to think," he whispered, hugging her tightly as the principal announced her name then.

"Kelly Marie Gibbs," she said, as Gibbs let go of the hug and handed her, her diploma.

"Congratulations babygirl," he whispered, as they both walked off the stage, she went back to her seat while Gibbs went to sit with Jenny and Alexis.

****NCIS****

Once the ceremony was over, everyone was in a rush to find their families and start celebrating. Finally managing to find her way out to where Jenny had told her they would be waiting at; Kelly ran full speed toward Gibbs. "I still can't believe you're home," she mumbled, laying her head on his shoulder as he hugged her as tight as he dared.

"I'm home for two weeks then I go back till the middle of August then I'll be back home for good," he said, as he felt Alexis' arms wrap around his waist tightly. Hugging both of his girls to him was the best thing in the world.

"Let me get a picture of all of you together," Abby said, pulling out her camera and gesturing for Jenny to get in the picture as well. "Now say graduate."

After getting the picture, and a few taken on Jenny's camera as well, the newly reunited family headed home to enjoy the two weeks they would have together that summer.

A/N 2: I have seen a few videos of surprises like this on YouTube. That is in part what gave me the idea. I'm not really sure if someone can be recalled to active duty in the military after being out for over a decade. So this is/was slightly AU.


End file.
